Celtic star Arne Engels has found himself at the centre of a Belgium crisis with boss Domenico Tedesco coming under mounting pressure after defeat to Israel.
Tedesco got experimental during the Nations League campaign campaign with key stars like Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku missing out on the double header. The list of absentees saw the £11m Celtic recruit given his first start in the defeat to Italy last Thursday as he continued his rise after joining the Premiership leaders. The 21-year-old kept his spot in the starting XI for the clash with Israel but couldn’t stop the Red Devils slumping to their fourth defeat in five games as Israel got their first win of the Nations League group A2 campaign after Yarden Shua’s late strike.
And that result has seen pressure ramp up on the boss – with Belgium facing relegation from the top pots. And Marc Degryse reckons that time is up for Tedesco after he rolled the dice with young talent like Engels – after a series of fallouts with key men and their Euro 2024 flop. He told VTM: “First there was that conflict with Courtois, then the failed European Championship. Then De Bruyne who was not only critical of his teammates after France, but also of Tedesco.
“Then there were those two matches against Italy when we were always behind the facts for a half due to strange choices. Can he keep going? Sorry, I don’t think so. Not after yet another blunder.
“There are too many strange twists in his head. Now you need someone who really sets the course and gets everyone on board. I don’t see Tedesco doing that. Under him, the important players decide for themselves whether or not to participate.
“He says he gathered a lot of information in this campaign. But information, you gather by seeing players at their clubs. If they play well there, they deserve their selection. Not because they might be good as Red Devils after three or four years. That’s not how it works. You select the players who are the best now. That’s how we end up with this hodgepodge.”
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